For the weekly newsletter, the students interview a teacher and write an article that appears in the Eagle's Nest. Last week was Mrs. Branch's turn and since I was substituting for her, I was interviewed. You can read the article here. The students did an excellent job with what I gave them.

The sewing class made pink ribbons for all of us to wear on Tuesday in honor of Mrs. Branch. She is loved very much by all of the students. Mrs. Branch came through her surgery well. She came home on Friday and is in good spirits. She had a mastectomy and they took one lymph node. That central node was positive for cancer so they went back and took the remaining nodes. We'll know Tuesday if the cancer has spread.

Other than a few discipline incidents, I LOVE TEACHING! I love it when I hear an "Oh" of understanding coming from the Geometry class. I love it when I hear that the Algebra II class understands quadratic functions. Even grading papers has been enjoyable because I've been able to record good grades for everyone.

This week is Thanksgiving Break! I am going to enjoy it and play with my boys. They've adjusted well to our new schedule. They love Aunt Judy and going to her house. On Friday, I took them to school myself and they asked why Aunt Judy couldn't do it. I think Aunt Judy enjoyed sleeping in. And I enjoyed walking them into their classes.

I begin my adventure as a substitute teacher on Friday, November 13. Last week, I brought home the textbooks for Geometry, Algebra II and Trigonometry. I still don't know enough to be nervous. I guess I'll have to wait to find out where the permanent teacher is on Thursday.

See, my experience is in tutoring a student one-on-one. I've actually been successful. These will be actual classrooms with multiple students in them. Geometry has 20 students. Trigonometry and one student. There are two Algebra II classes with 10-11 students each.

I'm excited though! My biggest concern is not seeing the "light" go on when I explain the subject matter. Anyone, have any suggestions?

If you are interested, I'll be at Southland Christian School. Click on the picture above to go to their website.

Six Word Saturday! To find out more about 6WS and to participate, check out Call Me Cate's blog by clicking the button below.

My words...

I am thankful for my boys!

Every Friday night when I go to bed, I hope against hope, that the boys will sleep in on Saturday. Just once, please, let me sleep till 9:00. Ha! They were up at the crack of dawn again. How do I turn off their internal alarm clocks that go off at 7 am no matter what time they go to bed the night before?

It takes me a few minutes to wake up and get moving and the boys were impatient for their juice. But when I got to the fridge, I realized we were OUT of juice. Fortunately, the boys found their new games and were occupied. So I started the coffee brewing and headed out to the grocery store. In the 5 minute drive, I was complaining in my head about being up so early on a Saturday. Then stopped myself and decided I need to think of something positive about being up so early. Hence, my six word Saturday post:

I am thankful for my boys!

I did not have my children until I had passed my 30th birthday. So, for me, I waited a long time to have them. Lately, they've been very affectionate and loving. I get a lot of hugs and "I lub you" from both of them. They touch my heart every day.

Here are some highlights:

Jonathan loves to play games. He recently discovered Checkers and Chinese Checkers. Granddaddy Carmichael likes Chinese Checkers but won several games, therefore, Jonathan doesn't want to play with him anymore. Last night, he got Connect 4 and won more games than I did.

Jonathan can be bossy. Gets on my nerves until I remember that I was like that as a child. So I change my tactics and am trying to teach him to be respectful to me and his Dad. Five year old's CANNOT tell their parents what to do. His latest things is to say something like "I told you my shoes were in the living room. Duh!" Irks me to no end to hear the sarcastic "Duh".

Jonathan is learning to write and gets excited to tell me what letter they are working on in school. This week was the letter "C" and he's pretty good at since he's been writing Carmichael for a while now.

Joel is so much older than his three years because he tries so hard to keep up with his big brother. I don't hear much about school from him, except he stayed on "green". The preschool uses the Stop Light as a way of discipline. The student gets a warning for a wrong doing. Second time they move their clip to yellow. Third time they move their clip to red. If they get on red, no treasure box on Friday. So it is very important to him to stay on green.

Joel likes me to lie down with him at night so he can be close to me. I love it and I do it. Can't help myself. Of course, if I lay down with him, he remains still and goes to sleep faster. So we accomplish two things at once.

Joel is my helper. He loves to help. No matter what the project, he wants to be involved and has fun doing it.

I was told that after Jonathan had his tonsils out, his sleeping and breathing would improve. Not only did those too thing improve, but his appetite improved also. I can't seem to get the boy full! Last night he asked for spaghetti for supper. After he finished his first helping, he came to me and told me that his tummy was full on the bottom and that he needed more spaghetti to fill up the top! So I gave him a second helping. When he finished that one, he announced that his tummy was full at the bottom, middle and top. Here's the proof.

I love to read. I haven't done much reading lately, at least reading for enjoyment. My nose has been in a calculus textbook. Or Algebra II. Or reading to the boys. I'm not complaining. I enjoy reading to my boys. And I love math. I was reading some of the other blogs I follow and there seems to be lists of interesting books that others have read. So, please recommend an awesome book that you have recently read. Thanks.

This was the date of my grandmother's passing. I thought of it today because the prompt at One Minute Writer was to write about a favorite childhood treat.I was fortunate to be able to travel with Grandma when I was younger. She always bought a 1 lb bag of M&M's to have in the car. Their place in the car was on the front seat in between us.

We'd eat on those all the way to our destination, whether is was

to her house in SC or

back to my house (wherever that was at the time) or

to PA for the Morley Reunion or

to FL to see her parents or

NC to go to Cherokee.

David (brother), Me and Tim (uncle) at Cherokee

I also remember eating at Cracker Barrel with her. It was such a great memory for me that when we'd visit them as adults, we always tried to take her and Grandpa to Cracker Barrel for a meal. Other great memories I have are:

Going to Mother/Daughter Banquets with her while I was at BJU.

Helping with Great-Grandma Morely while she lived with Grandma in Honea Path. I worked at Grandpa's Shaved Ice stand the same summer.

Playing "house" in the cabin in the backyard at Bennett Street.

Playing with the Swaffer's each summer. I was fortunate to be able to visit my Grandma every summer since I was two.

Grilled cheese sandwiches and chocolate milk after church on Sunday nights.

Watching Gunsmoke with Grandma and Grandpa at midnight.

Reading books from Grandma and Grandpa's library.

Helping her redress her dolls when the season's changed.

Molasses cookies, fruit cake and homemade bread.

Sitting up late into the night talking and laughing. Laughing so hard we'd end of crying and not being able to talk at all.

No matter where I found myself in life or what mistakes I made, I never doubted Grandma's unconditional love for me. As her oldest grandchild, I had a special relationship with her. But she was such a woman of noble character that all of her 32 grandchildren had a special relationship with her.

The last time I saw Grandma was in September 2005 and I blogged about it here. I was so glad that she got to meet my firstborn son before she passed away.